Beware!

We check the landlord has followed several important rules before the paperwork is progressed. If the basic rules have not been adhered to we provide guidance on how to remedy the situation. Once we are comfortable this has been resolved it can be progressed to the relevant stage.

These proceedings are referred to as non-fault based or accelerated possession proceedings. Suitable if you are looking to evict your tenant without reclaiming any rent arrears or for any other non-fault based reason. With accelerated proceedings there is [usually] no court hearing which you or a legal advocate are required to attend.

The tenant cannot be evicted before the end of their tenancy but you can issue the notice prior to inform the tenant you will not be renewing the agreement and wish them to leave at the end (subject to the correct notice and period being given). If the tenant is already in a periodic agreement (current tenancy agreement has ended and no new one has been issued but you have continued the tenancy on the same terms) a different type of Section 21 Notice needs to be served.

Getting the documents right in the first place is the most important part of the process. If you send the wrong notice, have incorrect dates or the content is incorrect you will not be granted a possession order by the court. As long as the paperwork is correct this is a fairly straight forward process.

There are many circumstances in which a Landlord may not have a copy of a written tenancy agreement. Maybe due to:-
* A verbal agreement so no written agreement ever signed - maybe you have let to a friend
* You have lost the written agreement - especially if they moved in years ago
* The Letting Agency has shut down and never provided you a copy
* ..... and many more reasons.
 
You can still use Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 to evict the tenant, however, a Court Hearing will automatically be listed with this process. The claim is very similar to the Section 8 rent arrears process. You can either attend the hearing yourself or we can instruct a legal advocate to attend for or with you at an additional cost.

We do charge a higher fee at stage 2 of this process which is £150.00 +Vat.
 

Many people reading this page will answer yes to this question.

A large quantity of our business comes from housing officers advising tenants to stay put until the landlord produces a bailiff order.

The council's hands are tied where re-housing is concerned. They cannot re-house anyone unless they are considered to be an emergency, as the people already on the waiting list get priority. To be an emergency it used to be that once a tenant received a notice to quit this was enough. This is no longer the case.

Due to the current economic climate there are many families living in poverty and unable to pay the cost of private rent and living expenses resulting in tenants falling into arrears. This is causing a huge strain on the governments housing stock. Many new schemes have been introduced within local councils working with private landlords to help improve this situation; however, this does not help you right now in your current predicament.

To be considered an emergency case the tenant needs to be presented with a bailiff order for eviction. So, the notices need serving, the court possession order needs granting and the tenants can still be advised to stay. The landlord in many cases is now forced to apply for the bailiff order and have this granted. If the council have agreed to re-house them the tenant is then [usually] scheduled to be re-housed prior to the date the bailiff is due to attend.

Is this unfair to the landlord? YES. Is there much you can do about it? Unfortunately NOT. The housing officers are just doing their jobs and the housing stock is at an overflowing capacity. The best you can do is act as soon as possible and start the process going.